Posted August 17, 200817 yr comment_5434090 5. Fritz Von Erich vs King Kong Bundy - Texas Stadium, 6-4-82 The commentators did a good job getting the significance of this match over. I always dig the story of the teacher vs. the student who turned on his mentor. The wrestlers work tight with one another. On one hand you have Bundy who is younger,larger,quicker; while Fritz is the grizzled vet who has a bag of tricks, and the claw. For most of the match the wrestlers work spots around the claw mixed in with some snug work with one another. I liked how Bundy survived the claw and it took 2 chair shots to the head to finish him off. I thought that Fritz should have sold more, and Bundy should have beat Fritz's ass more. To me this came across more personal than the Abby/Brody stuff. This comes across as a nomination for me.
September 13, 200817 yr comment_5434552 Falls Count Anywhere Retirement Match for the American Heavyweight Title: King Kong Bundy © vs. Fritz Von Erich (6/6/82) This match was huge in the state of Texas and had big implications because Fritz was trying to avenge his family’s honor for Bundy turning on them. Fritz comes out to the theme from Superman which was funny to me. The story here was Fritz was trying to get the claw anytime and anywhere he could to stop Bundy from basically destroying him since he was younger and stronger. Both men just pounded each other here and the story on commentary here was that Bundy didn’t have Hart or Hussein at ringside to advise him so he had to think for himself, which was a weak point. Since this was falls count anywhere they went from the ring to the turf of Texas Stadium, which was a cool sight to see the action on the field. Fritz would finally lock the claw on Bundy and really had it wrenched in but Bundy would fight through it eventually breaking free. Fritz would use a steel chair on Bundy a couple of times before pinning Bundy to win the title in his last match. This was nothing but a fight and I think it deserves to move forward simply because of the historical significance alone.
October 21, 200817 yr comment_5435310 I can dig the heat and the historical significance of the match, but beyond that, don't think it has a strong case for nomination. Shoe mentions that you'd probably want Fritz selling more and Bundy delivering more of an assbeating. Fritz not selling more I understand. Frankly, he did just enough in that regard. Having the claw as his one sure thing to protect him from the younger and stronger Bundy was definitely the highlight of the match. Bundy not delivering the assbeating is a problem. If the psychology if the match is that Bundy is a young badass and Fritz is a tough old guy who has to rely on cunning, and Bundy doesn't deliver the badassery, then things start to fall apart. I think it gets held together well enough by Fritz, and the result is a very good match, but not a great one. [Von Erichs 1983 (Disc 3)]
